a guru of bits, or just a bit player?

Until today, Apple’s three laptop lines used different display connectors. The MacBook used mini-DVI, the MacBook Air used micro-DVI, and the MacBook Pro used vanilla DVI. I thought Apple might standardize on a single display connector, perhaps micro-DVI.

I was partially correct. Today’s updated versions of the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro do all use the same display connector, but it’s mini-DisplayPort, not micro-DVI.

Apple needed another laptop display connector like a moose needs a hat rack, but mini-DisplayPort does have some advantages. For one, the connector is small—about 60% the size of a standard USB-A connector. (See comparison image, above.) It has a 1 Mbps bi-directional (half-duplex) auxiliary channel that could be used to handle webcam or other peripheral data. It can also drive resolutions above 1920×1200, which dual-link DVI can handle but single-link DVI variants can not. Perhaps the connector will mate with the socket more securely than mini-DVI does, but this is yet to be determined. (Latching is a feature of standard DisplayPort connectors, but so far as I can tell Apple created mini-DisplayPort on its own. It is unclear if mini-DisplayPort connectors latch. [update:They don’t.])

The downside? Mini-DisplayPort is presumably signal-compatible with standard DisplayPort, which “is the future” but hasn’t really caught on yet. This will likely be a win in the long term, but it’s not signal-compatible with DVI or HMDI (nor VGA, for that matter). DisplayPort implementations are permitted to pass DVI-compatible signals through the connector, and presumably this is what Apple has done, at least for single-link DVI.

8 thoughts on “Apple’s new laptops employ Mini-DisplayPort”

ReidOctober 14, 2008 / 9:28pm

Here’s a question I haven’t seen answered anywhere yet: Is it possible to get an adapter that will let some of the millions of people out there with Mini-DVI ports use a display that only has a Mini-DisplayPort cable? More to the point, can my 3-month old MacBook ever connect to the new LED Cinema Display?

There are a lot of pretty compelling reasons to use
DisplayPort – especially in laptops.
There is a 3 part series of articles on DisplayPort that cover the advantages of cost, performance & design, and future capabilities.

I just phoned the number at VESA and Displayport.org. The director’s assistant told me that at this time they know of no Mini displayport to standard displayport cable or adapter. She said to contact Apple. I have a new macbook pro and Dell 2408 monitor with a displayport. But of course Apple’s mini displayport port is non-standard. Hopefully somebody will soon come up with a single cable or a small adaptor. In the meantime I’m using Apple’s mini display port to DVI adaptor. That works fine, but I’d like to take advantage of the displayport technology. I guess this will be an ongoing topic. Peter
VESA contact info:
Bill Lempesis
Executive Director
860 Hillview Ct., Suite 150
Milpitas, CA 95035
T: 408.957.9270
F: 408.957.9277